


Regret/Hallucination

by FireFaceOutlook



Series: SaboAce Week, 2017 [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: I hope everyone likes it, M/M, This was literally the first day of the week that I came up with ideas for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 09:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10461303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireFaceOutlook/pseuds/FireFaceOutlook
Summary: "Happy birthday, Sabo.  I hope you're freer in the stars than you were down on earth."





	

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: Ace and Sabo are both seventeen at this point in time, and that's about all you need to know. Oh, wait, and it's also another side-story-ish thing to my soulmate AU series. Enjoy!**

Ace had made a promise with Luffy – they would live their lives with no regrets. Ace's life was even better than he thought it'd be when he became a pirate. He set sail and was finally free. He had his own crew. And while he hadn't appreciated it at first, he gained a new family in the Whitebeard Pirates. However, while he hadn't regretted anything in his adulthood, that didn't mean he didn't have any regrets in the first place. And his biggest regret was not fighting for Sabo against Bluejam. Every time he thought about it, it felt like it was his fault that Sabo had died. Maybe that's why he retained his colors. It was his punishment for letting his soulmate lose hope and think he had to leave on his own. But a small part of him couldn't help but hope that Sabo might really be alive still, but he pushed that part of him so far down that it hardly saw the light of day anymore. 

_Happy birthday, Sabo,_ Ace thought, watching the stars aboard the ship of the Whitebeard Pirates, the newest addition to his small family. His fingers grazed the tattoo on his arm, a constant reminder to him of what he'd lost – and a tribute to the first person to ever care for him with all their being. _I hope you're freer in the stars than you were down on earth._

“Ace, you should go to bed, yoi,” Marco called, and when Ace turned, he was standing at the top of the stairs that led down to the rooms. He was shirtless and looked exhausted with dark bags under his eyes. They had just gotten back from kicking the asses of pirates who tried to take over a few island under Whitebeard's protection. 

“Alright.” 

With one last glance at the sea of stars above, reflected on the waves below, Ace followed Marco down the stairs.  


  
**Across the Grandline...**  
  


Sabo thought he'd be fine. 

"It's just a flesh wound,” he had assured Koala, waving off her concern with the flippancy of a teenager – which he was. And he was just starting to get ahold of the ability to use Observation Haki, but while that helped him with detecting people, he couldn't focus it enough to sense small objects like bullets. 

He wasn't even bleeding all that badly, and if it'd been a regular bullet, he wouldn't have had anything to worry about. But it wasn't a normal bullet. It was poisoned and he was stumbling as he and Koala ran to get to the ship. Their mission was complete, the files were in Koala's bag, and they were ready to go home. They hadn't realized how fast the poison worked until Sabo's legs gave out completely. 

"Sabo _-kun_!” Koala cried out in shock, skidding to a stop. 

“Go!” he shouted. “Get out of here, Koala!” 

"But--” 

She was cut off as a bullet shot past her, embedding into a nearby wall, and she took off with one last yell from Sabo. With Koala getting to safety, Sabo rolled onto his back just as the first few men began to run past him. He kicked in the knee of one man, breaking it with a loud snap, and slammed his pipe into the groin of another. That's when they began paying attention to him and a solid kick to the temple was, embarrassingly enough, all that was needed to knock him unconscious. 

"Hey, are you going to wake up any time soon?” 

Sabo cracked his eyes open and winced at the throbbing in his head from the slight, dim as it was. 

"Wh-what...” he rasped in a dazed tone. 

"You got caught, stupid.” 

Sabo opened his eyes further and through his slightly blurred vision, he saw a man leaning over him, yet he felt like he was in no danger from this person. As his sight cleared, he could make out freckles and grey eyes, and he recognized him. 

"F-Fire Fist...” 

He was in the news a lot, especially since he joined the Whitebeard Pirates and became a commander (though Sabo felt like he knew him from someplace else, but trying to reach that memory just out of his fingertips made his head hurt worse). 

"Yeah, that's me. Call me Ace. Now, are you alright?” Ace paused. “No, of course not. Where are you hurt?” 

"Head,” Sabo answered immediately. “Probable concussion. Arm, gunshot wound. It was...poisoned.” 

"Right,” Ace confirmed. “Don't forget about all the bruises you've received.” 

Now that Ace mentioned it, Sabo could definitely feel where bruises were forming. His eyes fluttered shut as he uttered a pain groan, and he felt phantom pain arch across his face, as if he'd been hit with a pipe. His teeth hurt. He opened his eyes to find Ace still over him, arms crossed tightly and a sour look on his face. 

"No sleeping. You have a concussion, remember? And you're in enemy territory. We have to go. Right now.” 

Ace offered a hand and Sabo's hand slid across the floor before he could summon the energy to lift it and grasp Ace's hand. Ace didn't pull him up, letting Sabo struggle his way off the floor, and when Sabo went to release the raven haired boy, he realized he was no longer holding onto him, but instead his pipe. 

"Where did this come from?” he mumbled. 

"The enemy is even dumber than you,” Ace stated. 

Sabo gave him a weak glare, tired of being insulted, and Ace's gaze softened. 

"Sorry. You are more likely to remain awake and motivated if you're pissed.” 

Sabo has heard that before, from Koala, in fact. 

“Do you know the way out?” 

"No,” Ace said with a shrug. “But you do.” 

Sabo wracked his brain and distantly recalled being dragged a few directions. He relayed what he could remember to Ace, who nodded. 

“Yeah, I can follow that. Follow me.” 

So Sabo did, trusting a man he'd never met before then with his life. He didn't understand it, but he didn't fight it. A glance around as they traveled revealed that they were in a large warehouse with a lot of boxes forming paths, both real and blocked off. They only took one wrong turn before they got near the entrance, but Ace stopped him from passing the wall of boxes. 

“There's guards out there. Three,” Ace said, tugging Sabo close enough to peer around him. “Can you handle them?” 

"Will you help me?” Sabo pleaded. 

He was so tired and weak from the poison. Ace seemed to realize that, mouth settling in a grim line. “Fine.” He reached out and took Sabo's wrist, and Sabo felt a surge of warmth through him, as if a fire had been kindled within his chest. 

The next thing Sabo knew, he was out the door, three unconscious guards on the floor behind him. Apparently their leader thought they could handle watching a poisoned Revolutionary. What a mistake. Ace kept a hand around Sabo's wrist, keeping him on his feet, until they reached the area where he and Koala had gotten separated. 

"I'm gonna look around,” Ace said, pushing Sabo to sit with his back against a nearby building. He was having trouble breathing and was surprised when Ace pushed his head between his knees. “This should help. I think. Marco says it will help with breathing in some cases.” Ace patted his head. “Keep breathing.” 

Then he was gone. Sabo tried to keep breathing and was just dozing off when hands landed on his shoulders. He flinched, sitting up, and Koala leaned back to avoid getting a bruise on her forehead. 

"Sabo _-kun_ ,” she breathed in relief. “I thought we'd lost you.” 

He noticed Ivankov standing behind her, his nails extended. He must've used some kind of hormones on him. 

"Come on,” Koala urged, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and helping him stand. 

"Wait...” he said. “There was...” He pause, straining to remember what was so important that he needed to find. “...nevermind.” 

"Let's get a move on,” Ivankov said, and they began heading towards the docks. 

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: Was Ace dreaming and connecting with Sabo's waking, weakened mind? That's up to you to decide. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
